Smoke Damaged Oil Paintings and Antiques Require An Expert– Santa Barbara
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Transcript of Smoke Damaged Oil Paintings and Antiques Require An Expert– Santa Barbara
Smoke Damaged Oil Paintings, Antiques and Treasured Memorabilia Require
An Expert– Santa Barbara
Get An Expert’s Advice and Professional Support
By Annia Bonifaz, Guest Blogger
The disaster response company or
restoration company may be good
with your patio furniture but they know nothing
nor are they trained to handle valuable, fragile,
old items like paintings, collectibles and
antiques. Tip #1 As soon as you can think
clearly, you should ask them who is the expert
that is going to clean up these types of items!
Restoration of smoke damaged art, antiques
and paintings is an important job with which
you will require expert, professional advice and help.
Photo- Badly smoked office with artwork
This article tells about a couple of recent true-life stories designed to save you tons of $
and distress. Take the coaching to heart and plan ahead to avoid bigger problems if
you have the misfortune to have to deal with this situation (act... don’t react!).
The problem is aggravated, especially, if you have in your possession the property of
others (artwork on consignment, for example). Actually, both of these stories tell of
a fire NEXT door that affected the art collection in question.
1st Story (Take note if you live in a condo or have art located in a business)
After the fire, a new roof on the old building was required. This obviously affected
everyone under the roof. Even though the artwork in question next door to the fire
was not damaged in the fire, the clean up and repairs were going to impact the art
gallery. As the landlord and roofing company planned the work, it was clear they
had no idea about protecting artwork or the value... and therefore the potential
liability. (1st tip) It was the responsibility of the lessee to inform them of the
precautions that needed to be taken!! In this case, the gallery owner had an art
conservator that he knew and he related the detailed instructions and precautions
to the roofing company... who ignored him. The response was, “This isn’t our first
rodeo, we’ve done this before and know what we are doing.” Fortunately, the gallery
owner did not back down and read the “riot act” to him, let him know he was going
to be liable and related the dialog to the landlord. This up front dialog with all
concerned (and a threatened law suit up front), saved the gallery owner the cost of a
massive clean up when the roofing project “didn’t go the way the roofing company
thought” which was a $25K bill plus reimbursement for downtime. (2nd tip) A
specialized professional in the gallery owner’s pocket gave him credibility.
2nd Story
Just this morning, as I was writing this article, I got a phone call from a gallery in
New York (I’m in CA). The fire next door to him smoked his inventory badly. He got
lucky and was being assisted by the disaster response company, ServPro who had
declined to handle and clean the artwork admitting that the liability was too high
and that artwork is not within their training. Interestingly, when a company says
this to a client, it inspires the client to believe that the contractor tells him the truth
and can be trusted! (Tips #3) The gallery owner was doing exactly the right thing
by searching out a professional art conservator with disaster response
experience. The art conservator that he knew didn’t know anything about disaster
response (handling lots of objects (possibly damaged) all at once which includes
packing, safe handling, safe storage practices and may include handling items
exposed to toxic materials). In our phone conversation I referred him to the website
for the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)
which has a referral program for someone closest to him.
Left photo – During removal of smoke damage...
Right photo – After cleaning, it regained 100% of its original value and is in perfect condition.
As an example of the capabilities of a high quality art conservation lab, the above
photo shows a painting that was written off by the insurance company as a total
loss, but was beloved by the owner. Fortunately, the disaster response company
(ServPro) realized that they did not have the expertise to clean the artwork and
didn’t muck around with futile attempts. Fine Art Conservation Laboratories is
specialized in the handling, evaluating, testing and cleaning of artwork. This photo is
a during cleaning shot. The final result was perfect with little or no inpainting
(retouching) required. Obviously, the painting conservators were heroes for the
clients and ServPro!
Here is an article from an Insurance Broker who specializes in Fine Art and Antiques
policies with tips in filing a claim:
http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/insurance/smoke-damage-on-collectibles-
heirlooms-and-antiques-tips-for-making-an-insurance-claim/
Left - After the fire and smoke damaged oil painting was cleaned by a restorer who
didn’t know anything about the proper techniques of removing smoke damage from
valuable and sensitive art.
Right - After it was cleaned a second time by Fine Art Conservation Laboratories.